To Catch a Falling Star
by rubydesires
Summary: Lydia has been taken away from Beetlejuice as punishment. Understandably, he's not in a very good place. Years later, he meets a girl who is also slipping down into madness. Can they help each other?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hey, guys! Lol so I'm redoing Stars. This version isn't for everybody. It's darker. This is your first warning.

Everything belongs to their respective owners.

**XxXxX**

As far as I was concerned, they could all go to fuckin' hell. I had saved Lyds. So what if I took a life. Or three. It all ended the same. Lyds was safe. And that's the only thing that fuckin' matters.

I glared at the mirror. They were takin' her away from me. I'd never get to see her again, and them lettin' me keep this fuckin' thing was like pourin' acid in the gapin' hole they put in my chest.

So with one last look at my reflection, I slammed my fist into the glass, breakin' it and not giving a good Goddamn about my blood getting into the cracks.

_**Several years later…**_

Y'know it's getting bad when you start to think about how much easier things would be if you were dead.

I had just gotten back to my apartment from the dealership. My car was now running on a prayer. It needed new parts but I just didn't have the money. I had missed my morning class so there went my day's participation points. Yeah, they work a buffer in should something like this happen, but still. Those were practically free points and I lost every damn one of them because my car wouldn't start this morning. Had to have the creepy McCreeper from downstairs jump start my car.

And in an hour, I'm going to have to deal with Boss McCreeper. Seriously. He needs to keep his fucking hands to himself and not fucking touch me. It'd be one thing if his little shoulder rubs felt good. No. They fucking hurt. And he always had to be _right the fuck behind me_. But I dare not say anything about it. I can't afford to lose my job. And that's the way it is for women in the work force. Nothing seems to ever change.

Anyway, I am currently financially fucked. Tuition prices got jacked up, I've got house bills, insurance bills, medical bills, phone bills. I still haven't paid the rest of my tuition, and I'm still waiting on books. Now I've got car shit to worry about.

But y'know when you don't have to pay bills? When you're dead. And a coffin was looking mighty inviting right now.

I went into the kitchen to see if food had magically appeared in my fridge. Nope. It's still as empty as it was when I checked it last. I was going to have to shopping tomorrow to get my allotted ramen and Totino's Frozen Pizza. Yeah. College students sure do live in the lap of luxury. People always tell me it'll be worth it. That's nice. But I need to eat tonight.

I had some time to kill so I started up my laptop and plopped my ass on my bed. I'd check my emails, various sites, send out a mass email for the day's Physics notes, blah blah blah. The Star Trek Communicator sound went off and I grabbed my phone to read the text. It was from Nick Savage (I was convinced he was destined to be a porn star. Seriously. Nick. Savage.), my buddy at the local Goodwill. They had a vanity dresser that no one wanted and he wanted to know if I'd take it for five bucks. He'd even deliver. I told him that yeah, I'd take it. He texted back that he'd bring it by tomorrow after work. I told him I'd be here.

**XxX**

As far as I was concerned, grocery shopping could wait. I still had another pizza I could eat tonight. Nick was on his way with my new piece of furniture, and I needed to be here. Obviously. The doorbell rang and I opened the door, seeing Nick. I flashed him my usual smile, which the dark haired older boy returned.

"So, any particular reason as to why nobody wanted it?" I asked as he turned away and moved behind the dolly that held the vanity.

"It's haunted," he replied easily.

"Tch. Yeah. Right. Seriously, dude. Is it broken or something?"

"Yeah, the mirror's cracked, but that's about it. Everything else is fine." He wheeled it in and I hopped around to the other side to see the oval mirror was indeed broken. My fragmented reflection stared back at me and a part of my mind registered how bad I looked. My honey-brown hair was a stringy mess, curling every which way at the ends. My skin was pale and there were circles under my eyes, making the ice blue of my irises stand out even more. Shit. "So where do you want this?"

"Hm? Oh, just put it in my room." Nick knew where it was. Don't give me that look. Girl's gotta get it where she can.

He took it in, set it against the wall, and I had to admit, the white of the vanity looked kinda good against the dark colors of the rest of my set up. After some banter and after I deflected his attempts at some…action, Nick left and I had my shitty apartment all to myself again. I looked again at my reflection. I was looking pretty bad. Part of the reason why I told Nick not tonight. But what did it matter? I had my own things to work with.

Stop looking at me like that.

Back to the mirror. Stupid me, I decided to run my finger along a particularly jagged crack. And sliced my finger silly.

"_Son of a BITCH_!" That fucking _hurt_. I promptly jammed my injured finger into my mouth, the blood tasting metallic like on my tongue. "Fuck me!"

"Damn."

My eyes popped open and I froze. Where my reflection should have been was a man. A blond man. With toxic green eyes, black circles all around his eyes, and skin of a lavender tone.

"Damn," he said again in that gravelly tone. "I ain't got a problem fuckin' ya, kitten. It's just…I'm kinda over here…and yer kinda over there."

**XxXxX**

**AN: **I should have the next chapter up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Oh, lordy! Another chapter. xD I'm silent for like months and months and then BAM! So thanks to my reviewers. Anyway, I'm not gonna delete Stars. That's part of the reason why I changed the title for this one.

**XxXxX**

"You're not real," I said around my finger.

The blonde blinked at me. "'Course I'm real, sweetheart."

"No. No, you're not." I turned on me heel and started to walk out.

"Wait! Just…come back and touch me."

I froze. "Say what now?"

"Touch me."

I twisted to look at him over my shoulder. He was leaning out, hands braced on the bottom edge of the mirror, and I noticed his nails were blood red. "I'm not gonna bow to the whims of a figment of my imagination."

"March yer damn ass over here and touch me, dammit."

We glared at each other for a moment, but then I growled and stomped over to him, reaching out to touch his face. I blinked, taken by surprise. He certainly felt real. His skin, though, was cool. "Okay, so you're not a hunger induced hallucination. What are you then?"

"I'm the ghost with the most, sweetheart."

I stared at him. "Ghosts aren't real." They weren't. I have had that fact pounded into my brain since I was little. "They don't exist." I let my hand drop and took a step back. "Now what are you really?"

He sighed, head dropping against the top of the dresser. "I told ya. I'm a ghost."

"Prove it."

"I'm in yer mirror."

I blinked. He had a point. Mirrors could be used as doorways and whatnot. Then there was the whole Bloody Mary story. She used mirrors. Then there was that movie Mirrors. Okay, I didn't believe he was a ghost, but there were other monsters.

"So you got a name?" I asked after a moment. I squeaked as the Orion constellation appeared in front of me, a bright yellow arrow pointing to one of the stars. "Betelgeuse?"

"That's me."

"…Betelgeuse."

"Yep."

"…the hell kinda name is _Betelgeuse_?"

This time I screamed as the possible ghost flew out of the mirror and I fell back on my bed with a bounce before rolling off the other side and peeking over. He cackled and I pushed myself against the wall as his face was suddenly right the fuck there in mine.

"So what's yer name, four-eyes?"

I twitched as a not exactly pleasant odor wafted over my face. "I ain't gonna tell you my name, stupid. Name's have power and you're obviously something I don't want knowing my name."

"Hm. Yer a little hell cat, ain'tcha? Then I'll just haveta call ya Kitty." He planted a wet one on me and I was too shocked to respond appropriately with a fist firmly in his paunchy gut. "What d'ya got ta eat in this shit hole?" he asked zooming away and out of the room, no doubt to the kitchen. I recovered enough to follow after him and when I caught up, he had his black boots on the tile, and I couldn't see anything above the waist as he looked in my fridge. "You got nothin'."

"I have to go shopping today."

"Then let's go!" The fridge door slammed shut and he strode on over to me, grabbing my hand, ready to pull me out the front door.

"Wait, you crack head!" I was wearing my pajamas, but it didn't seem I'd get the chance to change out of the pants to put on some jeans. So instead, I just ran into my room, slipped on my Fergies (that were falling apart. Seriously, I could see my socks through the holes), grabbed my purse and keys, and I allowed him to drag me out the door. I locked the door behind us as he made his way to the parked cars.

"Which one is yours?"

"The little red car that's in dire need of a bath." It was true. My Shetland pony of a car was covered in dust. But I guess that's what you get for living in a desert. I gave him a once over as I walked to my car, hitting the button on my chain to unlock both doors. Betelgeuse certainly looked dead. His hair was a thick, scraggly mess, and I think that might have been mold along his hairline and neck. Ew. He was disgusting, but I had to admit, he looked good in that suit. And I did like the magenta shirt. I got in a moment before he did, and I ignored the complete mess it was in. He, however, looked at every inch.

"This place is mess."

"I am fully aware of that fact."

"I love it!"

I blinked, looking at him, once again surprised. He was grinning at me. We looked at each other for a moment, and then I just shook my head and started up my car. The drive to Walmart was a quiet one. Partly because I was blasting my radio and singing along and therefore not giving my odd companion a chance to speak. In the store, he kept his feet on the ground and I didn't make eye contact with anyone. They were giving the two of us looks. Good thing I lived in a big city. After I had all of my stuff in the cart, I headed to the cashiers. Betelgeuse, however, put a hand over mine, stopping me.

"What?" I asked, looking at him.

"There's hardly anythin' in there."

"This stuff cost money, dude." I tended to refrain from swearing in public. "I'm a college student. That's not a paying gig."

He growled and told me to wait before he walked off. I did wait. I thought I owed him that much. He was only trying to help, after all. I stood there, forearms braced against the handle bar, hip cocked to one side and all of my weight on one foot, leaning over slightly. I had my phone in my hand, looking at the blank screen. Nobody was talking to me. I glanced up as Betelgeuse dropped more food in my cart. I swear I could see dollar bills with angel wings flying away. He didn't give me a chance to argue because he took the cart. I was quiet as I watched him pay for them, and I continued to not speak as we headed back to my car. In fact, I didn't say anything until we got back to my apartment and was putting it all away.

"Thank you." He just grunted his reply. He was such a male. "Um, how can I repay you?"

Betelgeuse looked at me and I fidgeted. His eyes were just way too intense for me. "Just let me stay here when I want."

That seemed easy enough. "Deal."

**XxXxX**

**AN:** So there we go. I think I'm going to start another Beej story. I've had the idea for some time now. Anyway, basic idea is Beej befriends a teenage boy instead. Sound coolio?


End file.
